IoTeX CEO Raullen Chai: Smart Cities Require ‘Individuals Contributing Data and Infrastructure Together’
Raullen Chai, Co-founder and CEO of IoTeX, believes that DePIN will play a key role in unlocking the true potential of smart cities. | Credit: Hameem Sarwar / CCN.
- Raullen Chai, Co-founder and CEO of IoTeX, believes that DePIN will play a vital role in the proliferation of smart cities.
- The CEO believes today’s innovators need to focus on ‘world-changing technology’ if they want to make a difference.
- He believes a project’s growth is typically limited by the scale of the problem it solves.
The promise of smart cities is a big one. Sprawling urban areas that leverage technology and data to improve the quality of life for their residents. A utilization of everything from Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors to data analytics and AI.
It’s a promise that still feels largely grounded in science fiction. With BigTech facing increasing data protection probes, the promise of an interconnected city relying on every individual’s data may feel hard to imagine in 2024.
DePIN and a Smarter World
Raullen Chai, Co-founder and CEO of IoTeX, believes that Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) will play a key role in unlocking the true potential of smart cities.
Chai co-founded IoTeX in 2017 to combine IoT with blockchain. The company says this combination empowers individuals to own and control the data and value of their smart devices.
“DePIN can be a fundamental enabler of the ‘smart world’ concept by providing a decentralized framework for IoT devices to operate securely and efficiently for assisting users with everyday digital activities.”
DePIN enables networks of physical assets, such as IoT devices, sensors, and energy systems, to be maintained and operated by a decentralized community of users or participants rather than a centralized entity.
It is due to this that Chai believes smart cities will thrive.
“In the old world, a few big corporations built over 90% of the infrastructure that powers the digital economy.”
The major players in IT, telecoms, and energy currently spend billions of dollars a year to stay competitive. This has eliminated most smaller players and created a monopoly of a few major services to choose from.
In addition, it is becoming far too common to see companies caught out for extracting data from their customers without consent.
Putting Data Back Into the Hands of Users
Chai believes DePIN will put the value of individuals’ data back into their hands and give them a role within the smart city economy.
“In a new world, it would be individuals contributing data, infrastructure, through their own electronic devices altogether.”
Chai explains that the DePIN model enables a more resilient and transparent smart city. Participants can contribute their own networks that enhance urban services and logistics without sacrificing data privacy or control.
Despite his ambitions, Chai is not shying away from the challenges that smart cities and IoT devices face; in fact, he’s tackling them head-on.
“As IoT devices proliferate, managing the massive amount of data they generate will be a challenge. DePIN can ensure that data is securely captured, shared, and monetized in a way that empowers users while reducing reliance on centralized data platforms.”
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global IoT market size is expected to record a valuation of USD 4,062.34 billion by 2032.
DePIN can ensure that data is securely captured, shared, and monetized, empowering users while reducing reliance on centralized data platforms.
New Projects Should Focus on ‘World-Changing Technology and Infrastructure’
In today’s fast-paced and highly competitive technological landscape, standing out as an innovator requires more than just technical expertise or the ability to deliver a product to market.
“For new innovators, they should be bold, creative, fearless and disruptive.”
Previously working as Senior Software Engineer at Google, and then head of Crypto R&D and Engineering Security at Uber, Chai has undoubtedly understood these four words throughout his career.
It was during his time in Silicon Valley that Chai became increasingly interested in blockchain technology. He saw blockchain as a solution to many of the challenges he had encountered in centralized systems—especially in terms of trust, scalability, and security.
The creation of IoTeX, with its ultimate vision of creating a decentralized platform for IoT devices, was a large-scale goal with no immediate returns.
But Chai says today’s innovators need to follow this blueprint if they want to add value to everyone’s daily life.
“Opening up a new restaurant or a bar in your local community is almost guaranteed to turn a profit, but it will not scale. Instead, one should focus on world-changing technology and infrastructure.”
Many businesses succeed by addressing immediate needs, much like a local restaurant caters to its community’s appetite. However, as much as these enterprises can be profitable, their growth is typically limited by the scale of the problem they solve.
Chai believes innovators need to aim bigger.
“If something they are working on already produces near-term revenue, [perhaps] it will not be a big business.”
Crypto Is Evolving Quickly, How To Keep Up?
Many initially saw the decentralized industry as a hobby for the reckless at best and an industry driven by opportunists at worst. However, the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology has markedly changed the global perception of the decentralized industry.
Chai himself has been shocked by the rate of innovation and crypto’s resilience in persistently pushing forward.
“I am surprised by the innovation cycle in crypto, which usually takes decades to happen, such as the adoption of the internet and various gig-economy platforms.”
The adoption of Web3 components has become increasingly entrenched in mainstream and traditional finance.
In January 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), marking a big win for the decentralized industry as a whole.
Last month, Japanese electronics giant Sony launched its own blockchain to help bring Web3 technology to the mainstream.
IoTeX’s CEO has witnessed almost three bear-bull cycles and countless projects and verticals rising and falling, yet he claims he is not adapting as he goes – he’s just enjoying the ride.
“It’s essential to keep building cutting-edge solutions while ensuring they are accessible and user-friendly for a wide audience, balancing technological innovation and user adoption is the key.”
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